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1794-] 
purpofe, it will be neceffary previoufly to 
point out their prefent defects. 
It is natural for the members of thefe 
focieties to be jealous of any interference 
in the management of thofe little capitals 
which are created by their own voluntary 
contributions; but, hence, much evil has 
enfued. Apprehentive thar it they vetted 
them in the government funds, fome law 
might be ena¢ted which would take them 
out of their own difpofal; they have 
often preferred private fecurities, and 
many caules have combined: to induce 
them to accept of thofe which have proved 
unfafe. Others, delighted with the idea 
of having a club-eftate, have laid out 
their money in improvident purchafes 
of land, or buildings ; by thefe means 
it has happened, in very many inftances, 
that their expectations of pecuniary aid 
from their club, in times of ficknefs 
and infirmity, have been cruelly difap- 
pointed ; and after a fubfcription of many 
years’ continuance, they have hadthe mor- 
tification to find the box of the club fhut 
up, and all aid refufed them, when that 
period arrived for which they had made 
this provifion. There is another circum. 
ftance, which has alfo contributed much 
to this difappointment. . Their weekly 
allowances have been fettled from general 
tables; and it has very commonly hap- 
pened, that the fund of the fociety has 
proved inadequate to the claims grounded 
upon thofe data. It fhould feem, that in 
fettling thefe allowances, the fituation, 
population, nature of the manufactory in 
which the members of the fociety are 
chiefly employed, together with the num- 
ber of which it is propofed the ciub 
fhould confift, ought all to be taken into 
the account. Some places, and fome em- 
ployments or manufactures, are much 
more healthy than others: viilages, in 
general, more fo than large towns. In 
Shrewfbury a peculiar inconvenience has 
arifen, from a caufe that would be leaft 
fulpeéted of producing it—the general 
predileétion of the lower clafs in favour 
of thefe focieties. In confequence of this 
difpofition, new clubs are frequently 
eftablifhing, into which all the young 
perfons enter; while thofe of longer date 
retain none but their old members ; and 
thefe, in procefs of time, experiencing 
the general infirmities of age, the de- 
mand or the fund becomes greater than 
it can anfwer, and the box is fhut up, or 
the club diffolved. Undoubtedly, it would 
contribute greatly to the fuccefs of thele 
inititutions, if they could be rendered 
Mr. Wood, of Shrewfbury, on Friendly Societies. 
permanent ; and if in the admifion of 
new' members, a due proportion with 
refpeét to the age of the parties, were 
ftrictly adhered to. For this purpofe they 
fhould be divided into ciaffes. Thofe 
under thirty, for example, forming the 
firft clafs ; from thirty to forty, the fe- 
cond clafs; and foon. And it fhould be 
a fettledrule, to keep up a relative pro- 
portion in each clafs, in the admitfion of 
trefh fubfcribers; fo that not more than 
one-third, or one-fourth of the members 
conftituting each fociety, fhould be above 
fifty years of age, As in fuch a fociety, 
eftablifhed under proper regulations, 
their fund, or capital, would generally 
experience a progreilive incteafe; there 
would be no difficulty in procuring a fuf. 
ficient number of young members, to 
keep up the proportion required. 
Thefe are the principal defeéts that 
have come to my knowledge, in the con- 
duct and regulations of thefe focieties, 
It is probable, however, that farther 
ufeful information may be obtained by 
applying to their fecretaries. f 
How to remedy evils that fo ferioufly 
affeét the utility, and ftrike at the very 
exiftence of thefe valuable eftablifhments, 
wit require much deliberate thought and, 
attention. 
If it were poffible to eftablith all thefe 
focieties upon one uniform ftable bafis, 
‘and, by a very cautlous interpofition of 
9.’ DI p 
the legiflatute, to enact fome general re- 
eulation, to which each individual club 
fhould feparately conform ; particularly 
with refpeét to the allowances, and to 
prevent the capricious fhutting up of the’ 
‘box, or diffolution of the fociety, it would 
certainly produce confequences, in the 
higheft degree important to the commu- 
nity at large, and falutary to.the focieties 
themfelves. I fhould, by no means, pro- 
pofe carrying the compulfion any farther ; 
but, as a fincere friend to thefe infitu- 
tions, and from an ardent defire for their 
fuccefs, I would beg leave to recommend 
to their ferious confideration the efta-> 
blifhment of an additional rule in each 
fociety, providing, that a certain number 
of refpeétable inhabitants in the town or 
vicinage to which they belong, and in 
whom they can confide, fhould be eleéted 
by the members of the fociety, as truf.. 
tees for the management of their funds; 
fuch truftees giving fecurity for the 
faithful appropriation thereof. 
Until thefe improvements take place, 
holding forth to the public particular de. 
tails of the rules adopted by thofe focie- 
tles 
